South African Magnum photographer Mikhael Subotzky has descended upon the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation with an epic installation. Titled WYE, this triple screener immerses you in the past, present and future — all at once.
Visions of 19th century history, when colonial powers were busy forcing their way into strange lands, interweave with impressions of the present, lurching from ambivalence to trauma. Meanwhile, the future is depicted in a dystopic light, ravaged by humanity's carelessness. The work simultaneously takes us on a geographical adventure, spanning Australia, South Africa and England, the epicentre of the British Empire.
Subotzky spent two years developing his narrative before shooting on location in South Africa with German cinematographer Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein (Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre and Woyzeck).
Born in 1981, Subotzky has exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York, as well as the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London, and won a slew of awards, including the 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist Award, the 2012 Discovery Award at Arles, the 2009 Oskar Barnack Award and the 2008 ICP Infinity Award.